Here are three keys to doing that:

Keep it personal. This is no one-size-fits-all event. It’s not even a one-size-fits-most event! Begin by thinking long and hard about the individual servants you want to honor. What motivates them? What do they enjoy? Center recognition events and thank-you gifts around that.

Make it inclusive. If yours is a church with only one paid staff, the pastor, it’s okay to single that one person out. If, though, your church staff includes one or more additional servants, consider ways to express your appreciation to them, too. Not only will this help prevent inter-staff resentments and conflicts, it will keep your pastor from the embarrassment of being honored while other equally hard-working staff members are ignored.

Think spiritually—but be authentic. All of us want to believe our work, our lives, make a difference. Your pastor wants to draw you closer to your Savior. Offer evidence that’s happening! When I asked one pastor what he would consider an encouraging gift, he suggested that members really listen to sermons—maybe even take notes and ask an occasional question during the week.

CTA offers a number of spiritually meaningful gifts for pastors and several appropriate for Pastor/Staff Appreciation. Whatever you say or give, though, be sure it comes from your heart!

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright line below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Article used with permission grant #082510 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

We’ve received over 1000 nominations already, and more nominations keep pouring in every day.

First prize?  An all-expense-paid retreat for two at the 3-day seminar of the pastor’s choice at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove near Asheville, North Carolina. The trip is valued at up to $1,500.

We’re accepting E-mail nominations for a few more days, so don’t delay! Check out the Servant Heart Award website, put a team of leaders together, and nominate your pastor today!

(Wish you could get in on the fun–and the helpful newsletter resources CTA publishes twice each month? Go to CTA’s website, scroll down to find the E-mail subscription link in the left-hand column, and sign up. It’s free! )

A new minister had agreed to lead a graveside burial service for a poverty-stricken man who had no family or friends. On his way to the unfamiliar cemetery, he made several wrong turns and arrived an hour late. The hearse was nowhere in sight, the backhoe stood next to the open hole, and the workmen were sitting under a tree eating lunch.

Diligent and feeling guilty for his tardiness, the parson launched into an impassioned and lengthy service over the vault which had already been lowered into the grave.

As he returned to his car, one of the workmen said to the other, “I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years and I ain’t never seen anything like that.”

 +++

A Sunday School teacher said to her first graders, “We have been learning how powerful the kings and queens were in biblical times. But there is a higher power. Who can tell me what it is?”

Little Sarah raised her hand and blurted out, “I know! I know! Aces!”

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #071410 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

(Wish you could get in on the fun–and the helpful newsletter resources CTA publishes twice each month? Go to CTA’s website, scroll down to find the E-mail subscription link in the left-hand column, and sign up. It’s free! )

Good News:    The women’s guild voted to send you a get-well card.

Bad News:       The resolution passed by a vote of 31-30.

Good News:    The elder board accepted your job description the way you wrote it.

Bad News:       They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.

 Good News:    Your women’s softball team finally won a game.

Bad News:       They beat your men’s softball team.

Good News:    After months of wrangling, he trustees finally voted to add more church parking.

Bad News:       They are going to blacktop the lawn in front of your parsonage.

Good News:    The youth in your church have decided to come to your house for a visit.

Bad News:       They’re coming in the middle of the night, armed with toilet paper and shaving cream to decorate.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright line below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #070710 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

 Wouldn’t it be fun to celebrate with fireworks in church? What celebrations could we mark with fireworks? Here’s my list:

• Every Easter hymn. He is risen indeed!
• Every announcement of the Gospel–God’s glorious, free grace!
• Every baptism–a new member in the family!

 But I wouldn’t stop with Sunday. As we live out our lives of faith, we could celebrate every time someone:

• notices and stops to help someone who’s hurting
• puts aside their own comfort in order to serve
• wisely says “no” to an invitation to a volunteer task because that particular task would be poor stewardship of their time
• notices and thanks a humble servant
• reminds someone else of the purpose behind all that we do

In a firework show, the best is saved for last: the concluding climax fills the sky with deafening noise and blazing light. Similarly, we will save our best fireworks, our biggest celebrations for those events that stir heaven itself: a life transformed, a sinner who repents, a wandering soul found by our seeking God (Luke 15:7).

Praise him–today and forever!

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #062810 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

While not a dad himself, Paul knew the courage it takes to confront and correct rebellious children. He writes to the church in Corinth:

I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. (1 Corinthians 4:14–16) 

Paul seized the grace of God for the strength he needed to keep his focus on his Savior as he lived a life worthy of imitation. Leaning on his heavenly Father, Paul lived as a man of courage.

Every dad, every man of faith can find much in this apostle’s life to admire and imitate. Especially on Father’s Day, Paul’s life offers several key insights:

 †   Parenting is not just for moms. God wants dads to know the joys of nurturing, mentoring, and guiding those young in years and young in faith. Single men, strong in their relationship with Jesus, can make an eternal as they model, teach, and witness to Jesus’ faithfulness and forgiveness. Congregations need to create opportunities for this to occur and recruit faith-filled male leaders.

 †   Not all men who want children have them. A man’s “highest calling” is the calling God himself gives. Father’s Day can stir up a unique and deep pain for infertile couples and for families who have experienced a miscarriage—even if that loss happened decades ago. Sensitive to this, church leaders will find ways to celebrate dads on Father’s Day, while still ministering to the men (and women!) who live as singles or in families without children.

 †   No one lives in a perfect family. Paul himself worried about his spiritual children in Corinth and elsewhere. Use Father’s Day to encourage dads who struggle with debt or job insecurity, rebellious teens, shaky marriages, and the everyday crises common to family life. Remind worshipers that Jesus died for the sins we commit in our relationships—the angry comment, the biting criticism, and the forgetfulness that makes those we love feel unimportant or underappreciated.  We can confess our sins to one another, forgive one another, and begin each day anew in the shadow of Christ’s cross.

All of us at CTA are praying God will use your Father’s Day celebration this year to encourage all the men of your congregation in their faith and in their callings from God himself to serve one another in love, especially in their families.  

(It’s not too late to checkout the meaningful gifts  and free Father’s Day resources we offer, gifts intended to help men embrace the opportunities God gives them as dads, mentors, and friends.)

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #060110. © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

As your partner in such ministry, CTA wants to provide resources you can use to make a big impact without spending hours and hours of time in preparation. Here’s a menu. Most of the items on it are free. Take and use what you need, knowing we are praying for you and for all the men of your church!

 Here are around a dozen great ideas for Father’s Day devotions or sermons—some in Spanish! (Scroll down to “Father’s Day/Men’s Ministry.”)

Here is a PowerPoint presentation with theme art from Man of God and a PowerPoint presentation with theme art from Blessed for Life. Our PowerPoint presentations are intended for use with CTA’s free ministry messages. If you want to write your own message, you’re welcome to use our slides and replace the text.

Here is a page of free, downloadable resources—including invitations, thank-you notes, flyers, and bulletin covers keyed to the theme Man of God.

Here is a page of similar free resources, keyed to Blessed for Life.

And another, keyed to Strength for the Journey.

Still don’t see what you want? Poke around on CTA’s Father’s Day Web pages a bit. There are even more free resources that might help you.

Enjoy your Father’s Day celebration! And let us know what else we might provide to make that day more meaningful in your church.

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #051210. © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

Afraid you’ll forget something? Worry about arriving at an event or meeting unprepared? Here’s help in three steps.

Step #1: Calendar or chart your entire month on one page. Whether you use an electronic or pen/paper approach, plot out all the events and worship services in which you will participate. Then go back over the calendar and jot down sermon texts, theme ideas, gifts or mementos you want to distribute, and the like.

Step #2: Check out CTA’s free Ministry Messages.  Especially if you’re having trouble thinking of just the right idea or Scripture focus, skimming through the list of possibilities here should help spark an idea. 

Don’t forget, many of our themes have free invitations, PowerPoint slides, and other helps you can tweak and adapt to tie your event together in a polished way. Copy the links you plan to use onto your calendar so you can find them when you need them.

Step #3: Brainstorm ways to make your presentations purposeful and personal for everyone present. Keep in mind that not everyone in worship on Mother’s Day is a mom. Not everyone in church the day you recognize graduates is being graduated—at least not this year. So think about ways to impact everyone, not just those you are honoring.

Also make it personal. Almost all hometown newspapers that have survived in this electronic age have two things in common: names and photos! Almost everyone likes to see his or her name in print. How will you leverage this? Design your weekly service folder and your monthly newsletter with this in mind. (But have one or, better, two other people read it before you make copies. Have them look for misspelled or omitted names.)

Think about using a PowerPoint presentation freely sprinkled with lots of photos. Don’t have time to take them yourself? Find a youth or two with a Smartphone and tell them what you want. Turn a retiree loose with your digital camera on Sunday morning or during midweek evening meetings. Chances are, you won’t be disappointed!

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Used with permission grant #050410. © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026-1205. www.CTAinc.com.

As you think about ways to observe this day in your church, all of us at CTA are praying for you! There’s no better day to encourage families. There’s no better day to accent the importance of God’s good gifts to us in each other.

But as you plan your celebration, keep these members in mind:

†  Stay-at-home-moms. Our culture pays lip service to the value of children, but in practice tends to downplay the blessings of family, encouraging women in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to “aim higher,” to set “more ambitious” goals for their lives. Use Mother’s Day to affirm the unique and precious way moms serve Jesus by serving his children.  

†   Women who serve God in other ways. God does not call all women to be wives and mothers. Mother’s Day can stir up a unique and deep pain for infertile couples, for single women, and for those who have experienced a miscarriage or an abortion—even if that loss happened decades ago. Use Mother’s Day to celebrate the unique contributions and callings of every woman in your congregation. 

†   Moms who grieve for a child. Few mothers have perfect children. Many moms struggle with issues raised by a child with autism or learning disabilities. Many face the relentless pressures of busy schedules. All deal with the sins and disappointments common to family life. Use Mother’s Day to remind everyone in every kind of family  of the peace Jesus won for us on his cross!

 †   Moms who know the bittersweet satisfaction and loneliness of an empty nest. Think about those with sons and daughters in the military, those with children in college, those with kids whose careers have taken them across the continent, those whose children have died, those with a child in prison, those with children estranged from the family for whatever reason. All these moms wake up every day with varying degrees of pride and pain. Use Mother’s Day to reassure these moms of the all-sufficient grace of God, the Lord who protects, enfolds, and cares for all of us and all our children, wherever they may be.

Mother’s Day is on its way! Plan to celebrate and encourage ALL the women in your church May 9!

Here are some resources you can use to make a big impact—and do it without spending hours and hours of time in preparation. Most of the items on it are free. Use what you need, knowing we here at CTA are praying for you and for the women of your church! 

• Free Mother’s Day devotions or sermons—some in Spanish! (Scroll down to find Mother’s Day on the page.)
• A brief history of Mother’s Day. 
• Here is a PowerPoint presentation with theme art from Woman of God: Moments of Grace Our PowerPoint presentations are intended for use with CTA’s free ministry messages. If you want to write your own message, use the themed blank slides at the end of the presentation. 
• Free, downloadable invitations, thank-you notes, flyers, and bulletin covers keyed to the theme Woman of God: Moments of Grace. 
• Here is a page of similar free resources, keyed to Be Blessed. 
• And another, keyed to Bouquet of Blessings. 
• And yet another, keyed to Recipe for Life. 

Finally, if you’re planning a women’s retreat this spring, don’t forget the two free women’s retreats CTA has made available, one focused on the theme Recipe for Life and our newest offering, focused on Women of God: Moments of Grace. Both are free and downloadable. 

Still don’t see what you want? Poke around on CTA’s Mother’s Day Web pages a bit. There are even more free resources that might help you.

Enjoy your Mother’s Day celebration! And let us know what else we might provide to make that day more meaningful in your church!